Airborne 08.18.17

First-Hand Account Of A Flight Aboard A Consolidated B-24
Liberator

By David Juwel

(Frequent ANN contributor David Juwel had the opportunity
recently to take a flight in a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which
remains the sole flying example of a B-24 Liberator left in the
world. The aircraft is operated by The Collings Foundation. He
offers this first-hand account.)

Collings Foundation B-24
"Witchcraft"

Prior to the flight I had the opportunity to talk to an actual
B-24 pilot from WWII. His name is George Able and he is 90-years
old. George was an instrument instructor pilot assigned to the 19th
Bombardment Squadron. He flew missions at least twice a week while
operating in the New Guinea and Okinawa region. He flew 44 missions
averaging 8-10 hours in length, and has about 500 hours in the
B-24’s. All of this when he was only 20 years old. When he
flew them, they were stripped of their paint (to save the 500
lbs.), which put them in a pool of other aircraft types called,
“The Silver Fleet.” Although the aircraft normally
holds a crew of 10, George says they would occasionally carry a
radar man whose job it was to drop aluminum chaff to try and fool
enemy radar, or they would carry a photographer. Some of his
flights were weather runs. Back in those days they didn’t
have weathermen, so they flew an aircraft out close to where they
wanted to go, and they’d call in the actual weather, which
would help the brass decide whether a bombing mission could be
executed. His wartime flights weren’t as hair rising as some
other aircrew experienced. His plane got hit by anti-aircraft fire
once, wounding one of the waist gunners, but the crew in back
patched the gunner up just fine. Another time, he lost an engine on
one of his weather flights, but he says she flew just fine on three
engines, and you hardly knew the difference. He told me that the
pilots couldn’t see their bomb damage because they were
already past the target when the bombs hit, so they depended on the
tail gunner to give them a bombing assessment. Occasionally
they’d completely miss the target and their bombs would hit
the water instead. Whenever the intelligence officer tried to
accuse them of failing in their mission, they’d just tell him
they didn’t fail because their target was really the seaplane
runway. It’s strange, the love affair you can have with an
airplane. Given his age, there are probably a lot of things that
have fallen off the memory wagon, but his adoration and memories
for this aircraft isn’t one of them.

I had a chance to meet one of the pilots for our flight. She is
a petite, brunette, with a Ph.D. Her name is Janeen Kochan
(pictured), and she wasn’t who I expected to be flying this
wartime bucket of 56-cylinder testosterone – the B-24. In
fact, she’s a former DC-8 airline pilot with 16,000-17,000
hours under her belt. And, if that weren’t enough, she is
also a Human Factors Scientist and a Designated Pilot Examiner.
With her leather flight jacket on, she could pass as a model for a
1943 WASP poster. It was a real privilege having a person of her
caliber chauffeuring me through the skies. I was afraid to ask
about the experience level of the other pilot. My general aviation
ego can only handle so much.

The flight is a cacophony of sight, sound, smell and feeling.
Since I’m a big guy, I knew I couldn’t navigate my way
across the bomb bay on a catwalk that only has a 9” wide walk
area, so I chose to fly in the rear where I had ample room, wide
open waist gunner windows, and could experience all of the
sensations. I could hear the engines roar to life, hear the brakes
squeal, feel the pitching of the tail whenever the brakes were
applied, and smell the exhaust from the Pratt & Whitney
R-1830-65 engines. I could dramatically feel the swaying of the
turn as they applied differential braking for steering. From my
position in the rear, I could see everything 180° aft of the
wings. Putting my hand out the gunners window at cruise nearly tore
it off (just kidding), and yet there was no wind sensation within
the aircraft. While you had to shout to be heard, the noise level
wasn’t overbearing. The flight was so smooth; you could take
pictures without ambient interference.

B-24 Waist Gunner View

If you own a camera, you owe it to yourself to take one of these
flights. They fly at about 1,000 feet for 30-40 minutes. You can
actually wave at the people as they look up with astonishment at
what looks like a fully armed WWII B-24 flying overhead. Oh yeah, I
forgot. Half way through the flight, I noticed an ME-109 starting a
strafing run on us at our 3-o'clock. No problem. I simply grabbed
the .50 cal waist gun and smoked him. Mission accomplished.

Flying in the aircraft owned by The Collings Foundation during
their Wings of Freedom National Tour (B-17, B-24 & P-51), will
leave you with vibrant memories, bragging rights, and a story you
can tell forever. Just about every WWII war picture has a WWII
fighter or bomber in it. Now when they show one, I’ll have a
greater sense of understanding and appreciation. You can too. When
they come to a city near you, schedule a ride. If you schedule a
P-51 ride, you get to actually take the controls and fly it
yourself. What an awesome opportunity. If you come out, and go up,
you’ll be supporting history, making history in your own
life, and collecting memories of another successful personal
adventure.